I Don’t Smoke…

…and I don’t chew, and I don’t go with the girls that do.

That’s an old saying about having personal standards, a quaint old tradition. Today, though, remarking on one’s standards is called ‘being judgmental’. Which is supposed to be inherently wrong. After all, in our Politically Correct Alternate Universe, it’s a Law of Nature that all behavioral choices are morally equivalent, so none can be ‘judged’ as less than acceptable.

Unless, of course, some politician or media hack screams: “Racist!” or “Homophobe!” or “Islamophobe!” or “Domestic Terrorist!” or “Grandmother Murderer!” or some such non-judgmental epithet to settle the issue for all time. 

Fortunately, on a personal level, one can still choose with whom to do business. Well, except for utility companies, cable TV and government ‘services’ like the TSA (“We grope pretty girls, small children and old folks because stopping terrorists would be racial profiling.” By the way, when did violent Islam become a race?)

Back to business. When I do have a personal choice, I expect some basic things from the outfit I’m dealing with. As a result, a half-dozen or so companies have made it to my No Buy List. It’s like the No Fly List except that I actually use mine; I would never knowingly enrich any of the listees. In fact, if the only choice were buying something from one or burning the money, I would happily burn it—at high noon in Times Square on national television, if possible.

So, who are the companies lucky enough to have made my list, and why? Here they are in rough order of my aversion intensity:

General Electric. GE is #1 because they eagerly and knowingly sold products to Iran that were used to kill American soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, their corrupt windmill business has sucked up billions in phony-green government money, and they shipped all the huge profit offshore to achieve a zero tax liability while beating the drum for higher taxes on the rest of us. A zillion other companies sell what these cretins make

General Motors & Chrysler. These two are here because they are now state-owned economic Zombies. If they had reorganized after a real bankruptcy, where unions didn’t steal every other stake holder’s interest, I might consider them. But now they are run by political hacks and won’t repair 400,000 defective ’07 and ’08 Impalas because that was “the old GM.”  When the time comes to buy a new vehicle, there are lots of non-living-dead cars out there. Fords, for example.

Delta Airlines. Two strikes and your out: stiffing troops for baggage fees, and sucking Saudi appendage to become a silent co-conspirator against Jews. I’m not Jewish, but I am a former military guy, and I do care about folks getting a fair shake. If Delta is the only way to get somewhere (which it’s not), I just won’t go.

AT&T. This outfit has business practices and customer contempt that make Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and the sub-prime mortgage bundlers look like a choir of Mother Teresas. I have T-Mobile service now and am satisfied. I’ll be switching away the day their acquisition by AT&T gets approved.  

Google. Their company slogan, “Don’t be evil,” is very revealing. It’s the lowest possible ethical standard for an American business: all things not evil are permitted. The fact that Google distorts web search results for political purposes and dishonors the American military whenever possible is merely a crumbly crust on the sewage.

I dislike these guys so much that I use their free services in a way that costs them. If I can. For example, when I find a link that interests me using some free aspect of Google, I use a short automated routine that copies the link, strips anything related to Google out of it, then goes to Bing, puts the link in the search field and clicks to it from Bing. It takes under three seconds and always feels good. Won’t buy an Android phone or other Google-underpinned device either.

Apple. The ‘A’ in Apple stands for arrogant. But that’s not why I won’t buy an Apple product. Since I understand computer technology, I also know that their mystique is advertising smoke and mirrors propagated by the technically clueless or those desperate to fit into certain social circles. In those circles of course, the absence of an Apple product in any niche is grounds for ruthless social ostracism. Nothing to do with the device itself, just the ‘me too’ brand name. It’s like the guy who would drive a galvanized steel trash can if it had a Porsche logo, but aggregated into a ravening pack.  

Ship by Zip. For some reason, there are too many companies who say my address doesn’t exist and tell me they have to ship whatever they sell somewhere else. I live in a place where the US Postal Service doesn’t deliver to my home. And UPS, FedEx and the other private shippers of course don’t deliver to a PO Box. When I explain this and get no satisfaction, I never do business with that outfit again. The root cause seems to be that these companies’ address verification software is based on the USPS database, in which of course, my place is not listed. It’s like these companies have a big notice on their sites: “Go Away! Please Buy from Someone Else!” So I do.  

My reasons for not doing business with the companies above range from probable treason to moderate annoyance, but that’s the beauty of competition. I can always spend my money somewhere else. Like the Premier of Newfoundland who flew to the U.S.for a heart surgery denied by the Canadian Health System.